Sharing cinematic experiences one movie review at a time…plus, something extra here and there

isle of skye

Welcome to a review of Alien: Covenant – an apology for Prometheusor its continuation?

IMDb summary: The crew of a colony ship, bound for a remote planet, discover an uncharted paradise with a threat beyond their imagination and must attempt a harrowing escape.

Writing

Alien: Covenant was written by John Logan (The Last Samurai, The Aviator, Hugo, Spectre, Genius) and Dante Harper (a production manager), based on a story by Jack Paglen (Transendence) and Michael Green (Loganand Green Lantern – what a combo). Similarly to how the previous filmography of these screenwriters is a mixed bag, Covenant is also a movie of mixed quality. It just mostly rehashes the plot of the original Alienand throws in some Prometheus themes. I, personally, liked the ideas of the film Prometheusbut didn’t feel like they were executed particularly well. Same happens in Covenant – the potential is there but the attempt at the backstory of the xenomorphs just convolutes the plot too much (how many unpredictable experiments have to happen for their final version to appear?). The idea to have a crew/cast of 10+ people also means that none of them receive any development. We do find out some traits of a few characters, but I am not even sure what roles did the majority of the crew members had on a ship. They all could have been scientists or sheep herders. The couples idea is also just plain stupid. Why would you have a bunch of couples on a dangerous space mission? Wouldnt’ they judgement in a difficult situation be impacted by the fact that their significant other is also on board?

Having bashed the plot, I would now like to praise a few good moments of the film. The discussion about creation was an interesting and promising concept. The faith and rationality divide was also a good idea to introduce. The decision to include another character played by Fassbender was the best judgment that the filmmakers made. While I am not sure when did David turn so purely evil, I liked seeing the David v Walter interactions, even if they were quite creepy.

Directing

Ridley Scott has made some amazing (Blade Runner, original Alien, and Gladiator) and less than amazing (Prometheus, Exodus) films throughout his career. His last picture – 2015’s The Martian – was one of my favorite movies of that year. Alien: Covenant falls somewhere in the middle on a quality scale. Visually, the film was gorgeous: the landscapes, the scope, and the scale were just breathtaking. (Prometheuswas also visually stunning – I actually visited the filming location of the opening sequence – Isle of Skye). However, I felt that the action scenes could have been better – more suspenseful and intense. There also could have been more of them to replace some of the creepy dialogue sequences. And yet, at least Covenant was way grittier, gruesome, and more stylistically in line with the original two films than the squeaky clean Prometheus.

Acting

The cast of the film was quite big but not a lot of the actors delivered memorable performances (which was partially the blame on the script). Michael Fassbender (X-Men, Assasin’s Creed, Steve Jobs), not surprisingly, was the standout in his double role, while Fantastic Beast’sKatherine Waterston was also quite good. Billy Crudup (Spotlight, Jackie) and Danny McBride (Sausage Party) were the only two other actors from the cast who I remember as doing something of significance in the film. James Franco was probably featured more in the extra promo materials than in the actual film, while Noomi Rapace had a picture cameo only.

In short, Alien: Covenant was mostly disappointing. It had some good elements, but, ultimately, everything was ruined by the awful script full of laughable but not funny moments. If you want to watch a straight-up sci-fi horror, check out Lifeinstead (even though it is just a knock-off of the original Alien), or if you want a more PG space movie, Passengersshould do.

I haven’t done any sightseeing post in a while because I haven’t travelled anywhere, except flying between Scotland and Lithuania. However, this past weekend, I channelled my inner tourist and visited the Islands & Highlands of Scotland or Isle of Skye and Glencoe valley, to be precise. So, I’m guessing by this point you know what this post will be about – I will tell you about a few of the many beautiful places of Scotland that I had a chance to visit.

I was travelling around Scotland with my university’s international society, whose sole purpose is to help international and home students to see more of the country and make unforgettable memories. I’m sure that after you read this post, you will be able to recreate the trip to the smallest detail if you wanted.

This is an approximate map of my trip. The lines definitely do not represent the actual roads that we took, they only show you the order of the trip. Red lines and red dots represented the distance we covered and the objects/places we visited on the 1st day of the trip (Friday), Blue lines and dots – Saturday (2nd day) and the Green dots and lines – Sunday (the last day).

We set off from Aberdeen early in the morning – around 6am. At around 9-10 am we stopped on the outskirts of Inverness to buy some food – especially snacks and a lot of water. Then followed another 1.5h on the bus before we reached our first location for photo opportunities – Loch Carron.

Loch Carron is both the name of the village and the narrow lake in the Highlands – only a short drive from the bridge to the Isle of Skye. We took photos from a few angles but all of them very equally beautiful.

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Then, we went to a few locations on the actual Isle of Skye. First, we drove and walked (around 1 mile through hills and valleys) to the Claigan Coral Beach – the view was absolutely stunning – the sand and corals were pure white – and the water – light and deep blue. The weather was also spectacular – sunny with a few clouds in the sky.

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Next, we drove pass the Dunvegan Castle (sadly, we didn’t have time to visit it) to the south of the isle – the Glen Brittle glen, where we hiked to the Fairy Pools. The view was magnificent, the weather – pleasant (sunny but a bit windy) and the path to walk on – interesting. We had to jump over quite a few streams or use stepping stones to cross them. I wish we would have had time to reach the actual bottom of the mountains, though. Nevertheless, I enjoyed seeing all the waterfalls and pools.

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After visiting the Fairy Pools, we drove back up north to the town of Portree (King’s port). There we spent the night at an independent hostel. The hostel’s building was really cute (light yellow colour) and the actual hostel was clean and comfortable. In the morning, I went around Portree to get some water for a trip, some money from an ATM and I also bough a few postcards. Basically, the town is full of all the necessary shops and the major banks.

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We started our second day of the trip with the hardest challenge of all – a hike to the Old Man of Storr. When we started our hike the sun was still shining, however, the higher we walked, the worse the weather became. By the time I actyally startedclimbing up the mountain, it started to snow and hail. The wind was also crazy. Nonetheles, the extreme hike was worth all the energy, becase the actuall rocks of top of the hill were really cool and the view from the mountain was also nice, In addition, after climing this hight – this was the highest hike I have ever done – I felt a sense of accomplishment. Moreover, for me as a cinephile, it was really nice to be standing in the place where Ridley Scott shot the opening of Prometheus.

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When we climbed down and got back to the bus, the clouds cleared and the sun appeared, so our drive back to the Highlands was pleasant. Although we were all quite cold, since we were soaking wet and frozen after that climb through a hail storm.

At around miday, we reached the Eillean Donan Castle, which is located in the meeting pint of three lochs – Loch Duich, Loch Long, and Loch Alsh. It has been destroyed at the begining of the 18th century and rebuilt between 1919 and 1932. Now it is used as a tourist atraction – various collections are on display. The historical kitchen model is also recreated and displayed. The castle also serves as a filming location for movies and TV shows. One of the films that was shot there and that I’ve seen is Highlander. The castle has a big gift shop full of iconic Scottish souvenirs, so I picked up a fridge magnet – the most stereoytipacl souvenir of all.

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After visiting the castle, we drove down south to a very special place to me – the Harry Potter filming location. I have always been a massive fan of both the books and films, so standing in the place where the movies whre shot was surreal. We visited the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which serves as a bridge that leads to Hogwarts. On the other side of the road from the viaduct, there is a beaituful lake – Loch Shiel or the Black Lake/Great Lake that is near Hogwarts and was mostly shown in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire film, during the 2nd event of the Triwizard torunament.

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By this point, we were all pretty tired, so we just sat silently or napped on the bus on our way to Glencoe, were we stayed at SYHA hostel in the middle of nowhere. The hostel was surrounded my hills and mountains and all sides. The rooms were comfortable, the kitchen and bathrooms – convenient and clean.

On Sunday, we didn’t have any plans as a group, so all of just basically divied into pairs or smaller groups and when for a walk or a bike ride (there was a little vilage near by where you could rent a bike for 10 pounds) around the Glencoe valley. Films like Braveheart, Higlander and even Skyfall where shot around those parts. This valley is also famous for being the location of the real life Red Wedding. The Masscare of Glencoe in 1692 was the event that inspired Goerge R.R. Martin wen writing the Song of Ice and Fire.

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At around 3pm we left Glencoe and headed back to Aberdeen. We made a short stop at Perth for some food (McDonalds) and reached the city of Aberdeen at around 8pm. I was home by 8.30 pm and extremely tired, so I just caught up on the news, took a shower and went to bed.

Although the trip was echausting, I enjoyed it immensely. Rocky mountians and water (oceans, lakes, rivers and seas) are my two favorite things to visit in nature, so this trip was perfect for my taste. I highly suggest that you at least visit the places that I have mentioned if you ever in Scotland. There is so much more to visit, though, and I know that I will defintely be going back to both the Islands and Higlands of Scotland. They are quite hard to reach via the public transport, so I would suggest for you to either rent a bus and find a group of friends or just get a car and go solo. This trip would also requre you to be able to walk or hike quite a lot, so remeber to wear comfortable clothes and shoes and bring lots of fluids.

What was the last place that you have travelled? Have you ever been to Scotland or are you plan on visiting it ? Bye!

I just came back from watching The Huntsman: Winter’s War film, so without further ado, let’s talk about it!

To begin with, I was (and still am) surprised that this movie even exists. The first movie was financially profitable, but I didn’t think that it earned enough money to establish a franchise. The critical reception was also so-so (48% on Rotten Tomatoes). Also, that scandal with Kristen Stewart and the director of Snow White and the Huntsman – Rupert Sanders – really overshadowed the movie itself. Basically, I did not expect to see a sequel/prequel and, moreover, I don’t really think that anybody asked for one.

I have the same problem (the fact that they are not needed or asked for) with all the retellings of the fairy-tale movies. In addition, I still question the choice to retell them in such a dark and grim fashion, when the majority of cinema goers are more familiar with and are fans of the children-friendly Disney versions. Having said that, I do applaud the filmmakers for following their artistic vision and for putting a new spin on a well-known property. Also, a lot of these stories are very adult and dark at their core – just read the original versions of all the popular fairytales (we actually even studied them in English literature class during the last term at university), so portraying them in a darker tone is in line with the original tone of the stories. However, when going to see a fairy-tale based/inspired film, I usually want to escape the grim reality of life. Let’s be honest – we have enough of dark and inhumane stuff happening in the real world, we don’t need more of it in movies. So, on the whole, I have very mixed feelings about these fairy-tale movie remakes.

In addition, Snow-White’s story is a tale, which I have a strong personal connection with because I grew up reading it . I still have the actual copy of the book that I used to read the story from – it is on a shelve in my room, in my parent’s house back in Lithuania with all my other most prized possessions a.k.a. other books. On that same shelve, one would be able to find a book entitled Princesses’ Fairytales by Nicola Baxter – basically, I was a hardcore fan of stories about princesses even before I ever saw my first movie, be it a film about princesses or just a random animated feature

Speaking about other films, based on fairy tales, here is my review of 2015’s live-action Cinderella (that post is more of a personal study of feminism). Later this year, a few other fairy-tale inspired live-action films will hit cinemas: one sequel – Alice Through The Looking Glassand two new remakes – The Jungle Book and The Legend of Tarzan.

Lastly, before I went to see this film, I did not rewatch neither the 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman nor the Mirror Mirror version from the same year. However, I revisited the original animated picture Snow White and the Seven Dwarves from 1937 (the first feature length animated picture by Disney), and I gotta say, it still holds up. The hand painted 2D animation is refreshing and nostalgia-inducing in a world of 3D computer generated graphics. The songs are still pleasant (but a bit annoying, though), while the story is just a right balance of silly and sweet to be enjoyable. A must watch for any fans of animation from any generation.

So, I have given you a lot of context for this movie (maybe too much). Nevertheless, I will try my best to treat The Hunstman: Winter’s War as a separate entity and to judge it on its own. Let’s try that!

SPOILER ALERT

IMDb summary: As two evil sisters prepare to conquer the land; two renegades – Eric the Huntsman – who previously aided Snow White in defeating Ravenna, and his forbidden lover, Sara set out to stop them.

Writing

The film’s script was written by a quite unusual duo of screenwriters: Craig Mazin and Evan Spiliotopoulos. Mazin has written scripts for movies like Scary Movie (3 and 4)and The Hangover (Part 2 and 3). Spiliotopoulos has mainly worked on Disney’s direct-to-video animated features, but he has also written 2014’s Hercules(not the best film) and is writing a screenplay for 2017’s live-action Beauty and the Beast. So, The Huntsman was a union of raunchy comedy (by Mazin) and more traditional animated storytelling (by Spiliotopoulos). The question is: was this ‘union’ successful? Somewhat, yes and no.

First of all, the film was both a prequel and a sequel. It opened with a short recap of the first film – really good idea because I don’t think that a lot of people remember what happened in the first film. The opening also kinda set up The Huntsman to be a total prequel – ‘a story that happened long before the happily ever after’. However, the prequel plot ended after the first 25 minutes. Then, the movie time jumped 7 years and told us that the events that happened in Snow White and the Huntsman occurred in that 7 years span. The rest 1 hour and 20 minutes were a continuation and an expansion of that story – a sequel.

Continuation

The Hunstman had two storylines/ideas that were very reminiscent of the first film:

In the 2012’s Snow White, the Huntsman was mourning his dead wife – this film shows how they met and how she ‘died’.

In the first film, Queen Ravenna feared that Snow White will grow up to be more beautiful than she. In this film, she was fearful of her sister’s daughter for the same reason.

A few people from the first film also cameoed in the sequel: most notably, Sam Claflin as King William, Snow White’s husband and Snow White herself – at least her back – played by someone who was definitely not Kristen Stewart.

Expansion

The world of this series was expanded quite a bit. The film gave us the backstory of the Huntsman and added a few new characters, including a new villain/anti-hero – Ravenna’s sister Freya, the Ice Queen with the frozen heart (literally). Her whole power set was very similar to that of Elsa’s in Frozen. The sibling relationship between sisters was also another aspect, which made this film seem like a live-action Frozenremake. However, the ‘end-game’ of the sisterly relationship in The Huntsman was completely different from the loving reconciliation between Anna and Elsa in Frozen.

Writing: – | + | –

The film was mostly predictable. It was easy to guess that the death of the Huntsman’s wife was only an illusion and that Freya’s baby daughter was killed by her sister/the baby’s aunt. The only thing that I didn’t predict but should have was that whole supposed betrayal by the wife. However, in the end, it turned out to be double-crossing and not a true betrayal (that part I did predict once again).

The movie’s narrative appealed to me because I am a fan of high fantasy worlds and adventure stories that happen in these worlds, like Lord of The Rings or Game of Thrones. I also can’t help but notice that all fantastical stories are usually set in medieval/historic times. Well, I guess medieval history is a bit mysterious, and the leap from mystery to magic is relatively small.

On the other hand, the film annoyed me a few times. First with the addition of the dwarves, who sounded very Scottish by the way. The comic relief that these characters provided was stupid and unnecessary. Also, that whole thing with competing genders wasn’t pleasant either. Lastly, that whole pairing up of the characters was also a cheap conclusion. Nevertheless, the overarching theme of the film was love (the most overdone topic of all), so maybe the pairing up did work. Maybe I just hate love. Am I secretly Freya, or even worse – her sister Ravenna? Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Directing

Because of the aforementioned scandal, Sanders did not return to direct the sequel/prequel film. He was replaced by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan – the visual effects supervisor of the first film, who was also the director of the second unit. He also was the second unit director on Maleficient. So, The Huntsman was the French director’s directorial debut (well, full one). I think that he did quite a good job with the film. The fighting scenes were exciting and interesting. The slower ‘talking’ scenes were also nice. Sanders combined close-ups of the actors’ faces with quite wide establishing and scenic shots. The sets, which were showed in those wider shots, were absolutely gorgeous – both the physical and the CGI ones. The costumes were also wonderful – the character design was impeccable and all actors, especially the two queens, looks breathtaking from head to toe. The liquid gold of the mirror was my favorite visual from the first film and it continued to be my favorite visual in the second film as well. The end credits were also very beautiful, paired nicely with the main theme song – Castle by Halsey .

Acting

Winter’s War had a very start studded cast, led by the four(!) leads in the main roles:

Chris Hemsworth as Eric, the Huntsman. Hemsworth was really good in the role, especially in the fight scenes. I kinda feel that Snow White and The Huntsman is a backup franchise for Hemsworth if MCUdoesn’t work out (small chance of that happening). Nevertheless, Hemsworth also stars in other pictures – I recently watched 2013’s Rush, in which he was really good. I also have reviewed his In The Heart of The Sea a few months ago. His other 2015 film Blackhatis also a not bad B pictureand he was also in the first 10 minutes of 2009’s Star Trek. Going forward, later this year, Chris will be in Ghostbusters.

Jessica Chastain was also really good in her role of Sara, the Warrior. I loved the fact that she was an archer (who never misses) because I enjoy archery in my free time. Her back and forth bickering with Hemsworth was also good – they definitely had chemistry. I have only seen the most recent Chastain’s films, like Interstellar, The Martianand Crimson Peak. I also want to watch Zero Dark Thirty and A Most Violent Year, in which she stars.

Emily Blunt as Freya, the Ice Queen was a believable villain (well, sort of a villain). Her backstory was a bit cliche, but Blunt embraced the flawed writing and gave a great performance. She first appeared on my radar with 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada, but her best roles have come in the past few years, namely in Edge if Tomorrow, Sicarioand my ultimate guilty pleasure film – Into The Woods. I am really excited to continue following her career in the near and far future.

Charlize Theron as Ravenna, the Evil Queen. Theron did not have that big of a role in this film. She mainly appeared in the first and last acts of the picture. Theron did a nice job, but her character’s power (tar tentacles?) was a bit weird. If you want to see a different film, in which Theron plays a bad-ass, just watch Mad Max Fury Road. I also recently checked out Prometheus(because I will be traveling to the filming locations of that picture’s opening sequence – Isle of Skye) – she is great in that film as well. Lastly, Theron is listed to be in next year’s Fast 8 – that should be interesting.

Other cast members included Nick Frost, Rob Brydon, Alexandra Roach and Sheridan Smith as the dwarves who annoyed me. Sam Claflin (Mockingjay Part 1andPart 2; Love, Rosie) also had a cameo. BTW, I am really excited for Claflin’s next film Me Before You. In addition, Testament of Youth’s Colin Morgan had a minor role as well.

To sum up, The Huntsman: Winter’s War was a perfectly enjoyable fantasy and adventure picture. The story was a bit cliche and predictable, but it nicely expanded the original narrative of the first film. The visuals were breathtaking while the acting was also believable. It is not a must-see for the majority of cinema goers, but casual fans of the high-fantasy genre should enjoy it. However, really die-hard fantasy fans might find it too generic. Lastly, I kinda feel that if this film is even slightly profitable, Universal will make another, so you might want to watch this one so as to prepare for the future movies.